Hi all,
We've been stuck on this for over two weeks and have run out of things to check ourselves. Hoping someone here has seen this before.
Setup:
Incoming WhatsApp messages only arrive in 3CX when sent from the account owner's own (admin) phone number. Messages from any other number — tested repeatedly with a colleague's phone, a genuine customer number — simply never arrive. No error, no bounce, nothing. The chat just never appears in 3CX.
Root cause we found (but fixing it didn't help):
Under Meta App Dashboard → App Review → Permissions and Features, whatsapp_business_messaging was set to Standard Access (no App Review requested). With Standard Access, a WhatsApp Business app can only exchange messages with people who have a role on the app (Admin/Developer/Tester) — which explained why only the admin's own number worked.
We submitted an App Review request on 21.07.2026 for Advanced Access, including a screen recording of the full flow (WhatsApp message to our number → arrival in 3CX). It was approved on 04.08.2026 (App Review Submissions page shows "Einreichung genehmigt", whatsapp_business_messaging = Approved, no outstanding items).
Problem: identical symptom persists after Advanced Access was granted. A fresh test today (05.08.2026) from a non-admin number still doesn't arrive in 3CX — same as before the grant.
What we've additionally ruled out:
Has anyone run into WhatsApp messages from external numbers being silently dropped even with Advanced Access granted? Is there a propagation delay we're missing, or a separate setting (e.g. at the WABA / phone number level, not the app level) that also needs to be flipped?
Any pointers greatly appreciated — this number is on all our active maintenance contracts, so it really needs to work reliably.
Thanks in advance!
We've been stuck on this for over two weeks and have run out of things to check ourselves. Hoping someone here has seen this before.
Setup:
- 3CX PRO Edition v20
- WhatsApp Business number: 058 000 00 00 (Meta App "3cx-WA", App-ID *************)
- Routed via Queue (Trunks & Chat → WhatsApp → Standard route)
Incoming WhatsApp messages only arrive in 3CX when sent from the account owner's own (admin) phone number. Messages from any other number — tested repeatedly with a colleague's phone, a genuine customer number — simply never arrive. No error, no bounce, nothing. The chat just never appears in 3CX.
Root cause we found (but fixing it didn't help):
Under Meta App Dashboard → App Review → Permissions and Features, whatsapp_business_messaging was set to Standard Access (no App Review requested). With Standard Access, a WhatsApp Business app can only exchange messages with people who have a role on the app (Admin/Developer/Tester) — which explained why only the admin's own number worked.
We submitted an App Review request on 21.07.2026 for Advanced Access, including a screen recording of the full flow (WhatsApp message to our number → arrival in 3CX). It was approved on 04.08.2026 (App Review Submissions page shows "Einreichung genehmigt", whatsapp_business_messaging = Approved, no outstanding items).
Problem: identical symptom persists after Advanced Access was granted. A fresh test today (05.08.2026) from a non-admin number still doesn't arrive in 3CX — same as before the grant.
What we've additionally ruled out:
- License: PRO edition, includes WhatsApp + Queues ✓
- Meta App Mode: Live and publicly available (since 09.02.2026) ✓
- Webhook subscription: "messages" field correctly subscribed ✓
- Server reachability: webhook URL responds HTTP 400 externally (not a timeout) ✓
- Phone Number ID: identical between Meta and 3CX config ✓
- Routing: confirmed Queue, not Ring Group ✓
- No stale/stuck test chats (archived) ✓
- Not a Meta test number (058 000 00 00 is the real registered number, no test-number flag, no recipient allow-list) ✓
- Business Verification: completed since 09.02.2026 ✓
- Meta Activity Log: no configuration changes around the time of the Advanced Access grant — so nothing seems to have been silently reset ✓
Has anyone run into WhatsApp messages from external numbers being silently dropped even with Advanced Access granted? Is there a propagation delay we're missing, or a separate setting (e.g. at the WABA / phone number level, not the app level) that also needs to be flipped?
Any pointers greatly appreciated — this number is on all our active maintenance contracts, so it really needs to work reliably.
Thanks in advance!
